Case Study

CLIENT: Virginia Ready Mixed Concrete Association

TACTICS: Media Relations, Social Media

STRATEGY: To secure media placement of Sarah Beasley’s story that highlighted powerful women in the concrete industry, and to share the story on social platforms to generate additional engagement.

OUTCOMES: Beasley’s story was published in The Virginian-Pilot, generating over 360,000 impressions and 150 engagements. The story was also recognized for top engagements, highest click links, and top impressions on both the client’s Facebook and LinkedIn.

When you’re searching for a career path, a job within the concrete industry may seem as hard as the product itself. Such a path can prove to be even harder when you’re pursuing it as a woman.  The perception of concrete-related jobs as physically demanding and traditionally male-dominated has deterred many women from considering a career in the concrete industry, and a large part of this misconception is credited to the limited outreach and awareness initiatives that highlight the work of powerful women within the industry.With less than 3% of workers in the ready mixed concrete industry being women, it is hard for associations such as the Virginia Ready Mixed Concrete Association (VRMCA) to find stories that address these misconceptions and highlight their female members. That is, until they found Sarah Beasley.

Sarah Beasley, the area general manager at Capital Concrete, is paving her own way in an industry dominated by men, sharing positive messages for other women considering a career change. Beasley‘s roots in the concrete industry run deep, and she considers it a “family business,” after working with her aunt at Capital Concrete and eventually taking over the company from her mother. She is now in charge of plant maintenance and the truck and repair shop, and she’s even worked in human resources.

Sarah knows what it’s like to be a woman in a male-dominated industry and with our help, she wanted to prove that any woman can do these jobs and have a rewarding career.

We began reaching out to media outlets that we thought would be interested in Sarah’s story, providing a summary and cited research to each contact. Ultimately, her story was published in The Virginian-Pilot, receiving over 360,000 impressions. The story was also posted on Virginia Ready Mixed Concrete’s social platforms, Facebook, and LinkedIn. On Facebook, the story received 30 engagements, 13 clicks, and 137 impressions. On LinkedIn, the story received 60 engagements, 32 clicks, and 481 impressions.

We were thrilled to share Sarah’s story with the largest circulating daily newspaper in Virginia and received a significant number of readers through print and online articles. The social media post about Sarah’s story also received the fourth-highest number of engagements across all VRMCA social content in 2022. 

Here’s to Sarah – paving her own way in the world and showing us that gender roles should never stop you from pursuing your dreams.